difference in ijtihad from a quranic perspective (commentary of verses 78 & 79 of sura 21)

ijtihadin the realm of jurisprudence and shari‘a leads todifference of opinions. there is a disagreement whetherdispute over juristic problems is lawful, for shari‘a has aconstant connection with individuals and social life. theresult of dispute over shari‘a would be conflict andseparation in the social life and this makes differences ofopinions in juristic problems unlawful. on the contrary,there is a perspective which on the one hand considersunity of opinions impossible because of differences ofindividuals, environments, and perceptions and on theother hand treats unity of opinions undesirable; hence,defends desirability of differences in opinions as tojurisprudence and precepts and considers it lawful. thelatter relies on verses 78 and 79 of sura 21 which denotedifferences of two contemporary prophets in judging oneparticular case and, declaring differences of levels ofknowledge as well as abilities of prophets, considersdisagreement of judgments of prophets a practical patternfor social life; it treats scholarly disagreements of scholarsin jurisprudence and precepts as the custom of scholars,comments on those two verses, and defends disagreementsbased on ijtihad – but negates disputes based on rebellionand mutiny.